INDIAN RIVER COUNTY — A shark bite Sunday morning near a South County public beach sent a 42-year-old surfer to the hospital, officials said.

According to John Frazier, Indian River County Ocean Rescue Lifeguard captain, a man was surfing about 9 a.m. at Round Island Park when a shark bit his right thigh. The shark only bit once and let go of the surfer.

The incident happened while the surfer was by himself swimming away from the shore. The surfer approached an on-duty lifeguard for medical attention after leaving the water, Frazier said.

“I would say he’d need about seven staples,” Frazier said. “He refused transportation to the hospital, but he was with his family.”

No information was available on what type of shark that bit the surfer and the identity of the surfer was not released.

Riviera Beach resident Dennis Ward, a beach enthusiast who said he saw the man walk to the lifeguard station, said the bite did not seem severe.

“He was walking, but he had a limp,” Ward said.

The surfer might have about four, 2-inch gashes and the shark could have been about a 5-footer, Frazier said.

“The water is still so murky because of all the rough surf, so the shark might have mistaken the surfer for food,” Frazier said. “It wasn’t anything major.”

The surfer walked to the lifeguard station and to his car.

“He came, walked up to the tower and requested help,” Frazier said. “The lifeguard bandaged up his leg.”

This shark bite was the first this year at Round Island Park, Frazier said, but one minor shark bite was reported in January 2006.

TREASURE COAST SHARK ATTACKS

Indian River County: 17 (one fatal, 1998)

St. Lucie County: 24 (none fatal)

Martin County: 26 (none fatal)

Information provided by the Information provided by the International Shark Attack File at the University of Florida Museum of Natural History

REDUCING RISK OF SHARK ATTACKS

• Always stay in groups; sharks are more likely to attack a lone person.

• Do not wander too far from shore — this isolates an individual and places one far away from assistance.

• Avoid being in the water during dark or twilight hours when sharks are most active and have a competitive sensory advantage.

• Do not enter the water if bleeding or if menstruating — a shark’s olfactory ability is acute, and sharks are attracted to blood.

• Do not wear shiny jewelry because the reflected light resembles the sheen of fish scales.

• Sightings of porpoises do not indicate the absence of sharks — both often eat the same food items.

Jeffrey Nolan, 42, who began surfing three years ago, says he wasn’t even in the water Sunday morning when a shark bit him.

“I was lying on my board on my stomach,” he said Monday.

At one point, he said, he lifted his leg and felt the leash was strangely tight, like it was caught on something. He thought it was caught on the board.

“But it was actually caught on the shark,” he said. “I think that aggravated him. I saw a splash to my right and felt something grab my leg. I turned my head and saw it slip right back into the water.”

For the next week or so, he said, he will have seven staples in his right leg, just above the knee. But once doctors remove them, he said, he’s going surfing again.

“But I’m not going alone,” he said. “That is my rule, but I’m going to stick to it.”